Capital Jewish Museum reopens in an 'act of resilience'

UPI

5 days ago

1 of 5 | Visitors pray at a memorial to Yaron Laschinsky and Sarah Milgrim outside the Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., on Thursday. Photo by Leigh Vogel/UPI | License Photo
May 29 (UPI) -- The Capital Jewish Museum reopened Thursday morning with an invitation-only tribute to the Israeli Embassy staffers who were killed outside its entrance last week.
"Today's reopening is not simply a return to normal," museum president Chris Wolf told visitors, WNBW reported.
"It is an act of resilience," Wolf said. "It is a declaration that we will not allow hate to silence our voices or diminish our commitment to building a better future."
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser was among those invited and who attended the reopening of the museum that is located near the intersection of 3rd Street and F Street in the capital's downtown district.
"Part of my charge to my team in every difficult circumstance is that we have to get open [and] we have to get back to normal," Bowser said during the reopening event.
"Thank you for getting open," she told museum officials and staff.
Bowser also encouraged city residents and visitors to: "Keep showing up for the Jewish community."
A 'most heinous form of anti-Semitism'
Museum officials called the attack the "most heinous form of anti-Semitism" in a statement posted on the museum's website.
"They are a stark and tragic reminder of the hatred that, regrettably, still exists in our world," the statement says. "In the face of such darkness, we are called upon to respond not with despair, but with resilience."
The museum had closed for a week following the May 21 double homicide of Yaron Lischinsky, 30, and Sarah Milgrim, 26, after they left a museum event and were waiting to cross the street outside while on foot.
Both were employed by the Israeli Embassy in the nation's capital and were a couple who many said likely were about to become engaged.
Lischinsky was an Israeli-German citizen and had purchased an engagement ring ahead of a trip to Jerusalem, where he planned to propose marriage.
Milgrim was born in Kansas and was a U.S. citizen.
A history of anti-Israel activity
Chicago resident Elias Rodriguez, 31, is a U.S. citizen and is charged with two counts of murder and other related crimes after traveling from Illinois to Washington, D.C., before the shooting.
He did not enter a plea during his arraignment hearing.
Rodriguez has a history of involvement in far-left and pro-Palestinian events and is recorded shouting, "free, free, free Palestine," as he was being arrested, according to an FBI affidavit.
He had entered the museum that Lischinsky and Milgrim had just exited immediately after the shooting, the affidavit and witnesses say.
Witnesses said he yelled, "I did it for Gaza," while admitting to the attack when police arrived and arrested him.
Video footage from surveillance cameras in the area shows a man who looks and was dressed the same as Rodriguez walking past a group of four people, including Lischinsky and Milgrim.
The man in the video then turned to face their backs, drew a firearm and shot Lischinsky and Milgrim in their backs.
Video footage shows the man reloading the firearm and shooting each victim several more times.
The FBI affidavit says law enforcement recovered a 9mm pistol from the scene that records show Rodriguez purchased in Illinois in 2020 and declared in his checked baggage when he flew to the capital.
Spent casings from 21 cartridges were found at the scene, suggesting the shooter used two 10-round magazines and a chambered bullet during the attack.